Storyteller
by krynny su
Summary: Castle decides to shadow a certain blonde Slayer for his next book. Buffy/Castle
1. Of Slayers and Authors

**AN/Disclaimer:** Hello! I just recently delved into the world of "Castle" and I LOVE it. So, naturally, by the end of episode one, season one, I had a Buffy/Castle story brewing in my head and here she is!

I got the idea of doing this more similar to a television show so instead of "chapters" they are going to be more like episodes. Basically, a ficlet. Certain episodes might form more of a story arc than others, but for the most part, each episode is its own little story.

I'm not going to be doing the whole "Oh-Castle-you-look-strangely-familiar" Caleb thing. I just personally think that it's been a little bit overdone so I'm just going to skip it. For the sake of this, they looked nothing alike. Kay? Kay. :)

This is pre-season one of Castle and post-season seven of Buffy.

I don't own Buffy or Castle. You know who does!

* * *

**Episode One:****Of Slayers and Authors**

Rick Castle was walking in the general direction of home when he heard the commotion in the alleyway.

He didn't usually find himself out on random walks around the city, well, at least not without a gorgeous woman on his arms, but tonight was different.

His final book in the Derrick Storm series was about to launch and he was a bundle of nerves.

He'd gone back and forth, constantly wondering if killing Derrick Storm off was the right thing to do.

However, now it didn't really matter. He'd done it. The book was printed and being shipped out, all across the country. Probably at that very moment even.

His two usual comforts, his sixteen year old daughter, Alexis, and his mother, veteran actress, Martha Rodgers, had left him and his nerve bundle on his own while they took in an evening of shopping, dinner and a play. The apartment was left seeming larger and emptier than it was. Hence his walk.

He followed the noise down the alley, expecting to walk in on a small turf battle between alley cats or, if he was lucky, a mugging. What he found instead, was to say the least, shocking.

There was indeed a scuffle happening, though definitely _not_ between mangy looking felines. It was apparently between a very muscular man wearing _excellent _facial prosthetics and a petite, blonde woman. The shocking part was that it was the young woman that seemingly had the upper hand, despite the large difference in their statures.

Somewhere during his assessment of the situation, Castle missed Costume Guy making a break for it. He bolted and ran smack dab into Castle, sending them both crashing to the ground.

As Castle got a more…up close and personal look at Costume Guy's face, he found that he was suddenly questioning whether or not it was a costume at all. Bright yellow eyes were accompanied by sharp ridges that zig zagged all across his face. Oh, and of course, there were the fangs.

Before he had time to process the paralyzing fear that was now creeping up throughout his body, CG burst into dust.

Literally.

One second, he was there, all in full bodied, corporeal form and the next…..poof. Gone. Literal dust in the literal wind.

A hand stretched out in front of him.

"Need some help?"

Castle stood in the alley, staring the blonde down.

And not in the usual way he'd be staring her down, either.

Okay. _Mostly _not in that way.

She was, as he'd noticed earlier, petite. She couldn't have been anymore than 5'3"…if she was lucky. She seemed a bit older than he had thought before. No more than twenty-five or twenty-six, though. Her blonde hair was just barely shoulder length and semi-curly. The DIY curly. Not the 'born with it' curly.

Her skin was a bit pale for the warm, late summer days that NY had brought as of late, but still, a nice, youthful complexion overall. Her eyes, however, were a different story. They were an absolutely beautiful shade of green—piercing green, he would've named it—and they seemed more ancient than she. Her eyes told a story for sure. A tragic one, he would bet. A story he would kill to know. And write.

"So, that guy…just, um…kind of turned to dust."

"Yeah…sorry 'bout that." she said, softly. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt when you fell? He was kind of, um, big. Oh god, no not like that. Heavy. I mean he was heavy. I can bring you to the hospital, if you want?" she rambled.

Castle raised his eyebrow. Not only did she apologize for a guy turning into dust, but she was tossing in accidental sexual innuendos. Was this too early to confess his love? Yeah, probably.

"Nah, I'm fine." he smiled. "I think you probably saved my life." He held out his hand. "Rick Castle."

She stared at him for a moment, hesitated, then grabbed his hand and reciprocated the hand shake.

She was _definitely _stronger than she looked.

"Buffy Summers."

Castle's ego deflated a bit. There was no _'oh-my-GOD-i-love-your-books-please-sign-my-chest-&-here's-my-number'_ recognition.

Not even an _'oh-I've-heard-of-you'_ thing.

He decided to ignore the deflation, at least for now. Mostly because he was steadily losing feeling in his hand.

"That's a firm grip you've got there."

She ripped her hand from his.

"Oh God! I'm sorry!"

He flexed his hand back and forth, partially to make sure nothing was broken.

"So, was that a vampire?" Castle blurted out.

Buffy's face changed several shades before she cleared her throat and answered.

"I know I've never been very good at hiding it, God knows especially not since Sunnydale, but when they say 'secret identity', you expect at least one person in the world to _not _know."

Castle shifted his eyes. "I just meant 'cause of the fangs. And the bumpy face thing. And I'm pretty sure there was sticky red stuff around his mouth."

Buffy pursed her lips. "Oh. Right. Of course." She wavered and then continued on. "Yeah, it was."

Castle nodded his head. "So, you do this often? Chasing vampires into alleyways and turning them into particles?"

She laughed a beautiful laugh. "Often doesn't even cover it."

Castle was to say the least, intrigued by Ms. Summers. He had to know more about her. _Had _to.

"Would you like to join me for a drink?"

She raised her eyebrow. "A little quick, don't you think?"

"Oh, no not like that. Just as a token of appreciation for saving my life. Also, I've kind of just been through an incredibly harrowing situation. Some company would be nice."

"You're not some weird, creepy, vampire fan-boy stalker, are you? You don't look it, but then again, they never do."

"Nah, I'm too famous to be a creepy stalker…whatever. I've _had _creepy, weird stalkers."

Buffy's expression brightened a little. "You're famous? For what?"

"I'm an author. And, by the way, just a little note, nothing deflates the famous' ego more than having to explain what they're famous for."

She shrugged. "Not much of a reader. At all, actually. And, I feel that your ego probably needs deflating a bit."

"So, join me for a drink?"

He could see her uncertainty but then it vanished and she was nodding her head.

"Sure, why not?"

* * *

Castle led Buffy into a small, quiet pub.

"What are you drinking?" he asked, walking towards the bar.

"Just ice water with lemon."

He looked at her curiously but pointed her towards a secluded back booth.

By the time she was seated, he was there, placing her water in front of her and a beer in front of him.

"What's with the water?" he asked.

"I don't drink. Alcohol. Not anymore, anyway."

"Don't tell me you're a former alcoholic?"

She laughed. "Oh, no. Just…bad experiences. Very, very bad experiences."

"No chance you're going to tell me about them?"

"Look, I appreciate this and all, I _really _do. I mean no one usually says 'hey thanks for saving my life' and you tend to just get used to it after a while so I really do appreciate this, but please…just get to the point."

"I'm a naturally curious person. You fascinate me. I want to know how you became this super cool, comic book-ish vampire fighter."

Buffy hesitated. She was definitely not one to just launch her entire slaying career to strangers, especially not with her previous history, but Castle seemed trustworthy. She'd known him for about forty minutes at this point and she was already calling him 'Castle' in her head. Though, that could've just been for dislike of the name 'Rick'.

"The Slayer was created tens of thousands of years ago to fight evil and stop the forces of darkness—vampires, demons….blah blah blah. Some…changes…were made to the rules a few years ago. There's over five thousand Slayers at this point. I'm a Slayer, don't tell anyone. Secret identity and all that."

Castle quietly nodded his head, picked up his beer glass and drank it down in three large gulps.

"You're taking this awfully well, minus the silence and how fast you just chugged that beer."

Castle laughed. "If it makes you feel better, I'm internally freaking out."

Buffy smiled. "Is it wrong if it kind of does?"

They sat at the table talking for another hour or two, Buffy explaining in greater detail about Sunnydale, Giles and the gang, her time spent in Italy and the UK, her time so far in NYC, Slayer life in general and Castle telling her about his books, Alexis and his mother.

"I want to write about you."

"Excuse me?"

"That came out so cheesy probably. Let me rephrase. I want to use you as a model for the base character for my next book."

"Do you know what secret identity means?"

"I wouldn't use your name or anything else you wanted me to leave out. Like, per se, certain aspects of your life, or certain stories. But just the general idea of your life."

"I'm going to be completely honest here. I'm totally speechless right now."

"Good or bad speechless?"

"Haven't figured that out yet."

Castle's phone started to vibrate across the table, making some of the glasses clink together, lightly.

"I'll give you a few minutes to think about it while I go assure Alexis that I'm still alive."

As soon as his back was out of view, Buffy slipped her phone out from the special pocket she'd had sewn inside her jeans.

She lost _a lot_ of phones due to them falling out of her pockets or getting crushed during patrols. Giles called for a solution because, quite frankly, the Council was getting sick of replacing them. Xander thought up the hidden spy pocket.

She needed some serious advice on this and the only one she could trust to keep her mouth shut to the others was Willow. So she ran her fingers across the touch screen as fast as she could and hoped for an immediate reply, despite the time difference.

Buffy waited and waited but no reply and before she knew it, Castle was sitting back down.

"Where was that hiding?"

"Secret pockets. I'm always losing or breaking these stupid things."

"What did you decide?"

Buffy glanced down at her phone, willing Willow to answer.

But it just laid still, screen black.

"What exactly would this entail? I mean, like, what would I have to do?"

"Well, to write your character absolutely perfect, I'd have to shadow you. That's how I get into my characters."

"Shadow me. As in, come patrolling with me?"

Castle nodded.

Buffy took a deep breath. "It's not safe-"

"I'm well aware of that."

"Shut up and let me finish."

"Ooh, demanding. I like that."

"It's not safe therefore you'd have to go through some training. I'm not making the same mistake I did with Willow and Xander. I can't look after you while I'm fighting nor can I be worrying about you because that could get us both killed. And I really don't want to be responsible for someone famous dying."

"Training? What kind of training?"

Buffy smiled. "What better way to get into the mind of a Slayer than by training like one?"

Castle nodded his head in agreement. "There's just one other thing I'll need."

"What?"

"I understand that it's a secret identity thing but I need to tell Alexis and my mother. I don't lie to them. Ever."

"That's fine."

"Really? That simple?"

Buffy smiled. "I understand. I wish I had told Mom and Dawn earlier than I did. It's just…."

"Just?"

"Don't expect them to believe you. And don't expect to bring them along because you want to prove it. And don't go out looking for vamps on your own. Neither one of those ever ends well."

"So, basically, just let them think I'm nuts?"

Buffy nodded. "Yep."

She grabbed Castle's phone, typed something in and handed it back to him.

"Be at that address Monday morning. 7am. With caffeine."


	2. Lessons

**AN:**I totally forgot to put this in the first chapter. My apologies. I'm not going to be doing the whole "Oh-Castle-you-look-strangely-familiar" Caleb thing. I just personally think that it's been a little bit overdone so I'm just going to skip it. For the sake of this, they looked nothing alike. Kay? Kay. :)

* * *

**Episode Two:** **"Lessons"**

"You are truly awful at hand-to-hand combat."

Castle picked himself up off the training mat that was currently taking up the middle of Buffy's spacious living room, and leaned against the couch. He was sweaty and breathing heavily, something he normally would've associated with a good time being had, but this, this was kind of verging on Hell.

Buffy sat down next to him. They had been at this for over four hours and she had barely broken a sweat.

"Yeah, well—"

"No excuses. Just get better."

"Are you this tough with your other trainees? Or are you just that attracted to me?"

"Well, I will say that you are excelling in one thing. They usually hate me by now. Two weeks and four days might be a new record."

"You're too pretty to hate." Castle smiled.

Buffy rolled her eyes, at both of his comments, and stood up. "Ready to go again?"

"Mmm I think my bones have had all the abuse they can take today. Besides, Alexis will be home soon. I want to get home before her. She doesn't need to see her father all broken and bruised."

"You wouldn't be all broken and bruised if you practiced like I told you to. Wanna go out tonight?"

"Like on a date?"

"Keep your pants on, it's not a date. I'll pick you up at seven."

"You're picking me up? Wow, you really are a twenty-first century woman."

"I can actually break the rest of those ribs for you, if you'd like."

Castle stood up slowly and walked towards the door.

"See you at seven."

* * *

Buffy raised her hand to knock on Castle's door later that night, but stopped mid-way when she heard the not-so-muffled _(thanks, super slayer hearing)_ noises of an argument. One was undeniably Castle and the other was a woman's voice. It sounded older so probably his mother.

They seemed to be arguing about….what else? Her. She thought she heard the word "crazy" tossed around a few times, all willy nilly, but really, what else was she expecting? She'd been through this dozens upon dozens of times before when she would have to explain to a Potential's parents or guardian why their daughter was being taken away to Scotland.

She knocked on the door twice. The voices stopped. The door swung open to reveal Castle wearing a smile that didn't quite match his mood. Also, wearing a suit that was just a bit too fancy for where she was taking him.

He glanced down at her outfit _(a fitted, black "I3LDN t-shirt, jeans and an older pair of boots) _with a raised eyebrow.

"I have a feeling I should've mentioned dress codes." Buffy said, awkwardly.

"Well, don't let her just stand out there in the hallway, dear. Invite her in."

"Oh, right. Buffy, please come in. I'd like you to meet my mother, Martha. And that's my daughter, Alexis."

Buffy walked in gave a slight wave. She was having the feeling like she might have an anxiety attack at any moment.

"Hi, I'm Buffy." she mumbled. It may have come out a bit like a question.

They stood silently in Castle's open living area, very awkwardly. Buffy didn't know what to say and she was guessing that neither did they. After another few minutes of the awkwardness, she figured she might as well jump in.

"Okay, so I know that Cas-, um, Rick has told you about shadowing me in my, um…profession and I'm sure that you probably think that I'm insane or delusional or something but I'm not. My lineage as a Slayer goes a very long way back. I could probably get the books to prove it, if needed."

"Vampires really exist?" Alexis asked, curiously.

Alexis was a beautiful girl. She had light skin and the most gorgeous, absolutely to die for ginger hair.

Buffy nodded. "The first beings to walk this Earth weren't human. They were…demon in origin. They fed off of each other, making more and more of their kind. That is, until mankind evolved. The last true demon fed off of a human, creating a hybrid in its place. Before you knew it, they were evolving at the same rate as mankind was. And that's when the Slayer was born."

"And this 'Slayer'…it's you?" Martha asked, skeptically.

"Well, not the very first Slayer, no. That was tens of thousands of years ago. I'm only 28." Buffy's little age joke seemed to bomb quite rapidly so she just carried on. "The Slayer is one girl, in all the world. A chosen one. To defeat the forces of darkness and stop the swell of their numbers. Or something like that. Giles is always SO much better at this part than I am."

Castle didn't need any super human powers to see how flustered Buffy was getting trying to explain her life to his mother, so he intervened. For everybody's sake.

"Mother, I think that's enough for one evening. I'm just going to change real quick and then we can go."

After the longest five minutes of Buffy's life, they were outside of Castle's apartment on the way to their destination for the evening. Soon, Buffy directed Castle into a cemetery.

"A graveyard. Our date tonight is in a graveyard."

"It's not a date, Castle."

"If you say so, Summers."

Buffy rolled her eyes and continued on. "Slayers spend more time in cemeteries than anywhere else. Except perhaps sewers. Slayers tend to log lots of sewer time for some reason. I can assure you that it's a smell that isn't easily removed."

She directed Castle to sit while she continued talking. He leaned against a family stone while Buffy leaned on an older stone across from him. She pulled an extra stake out of the back of her jeans and tossed to him.

"So what now?"

"Now….we wait."

"What? We just sit here and wait for a vampire to go screaming by?"

"Something like that." Buffy smirked. What she was failing to tell him was that he was leaning against the vamp prospect's family stone. Just like she had planned.

"I'm sorry about my mother." Castle said, apologetically.

Buffy shrugged. "Don't be. She was just doing her job. Trying to protect you from crazy old me."

"You're really 28?"

"…Yeah. Why? How old did you think I was? And I'd warn you to be real careful right about now."

"Close. I figured 25 or 26."

Buffy smiled. "You're safe…for now."

"So, tell me more about your family. Please tell me you have a mother as crazy as mine"

Buffy folded her arms together and looked down, suddenly interested in her feet.

"My mother died eight years ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I…I didn't—"

Buffy looked up at Castle. She could see the remorse running across his face.

"It's okay. You didn't know. It wasn't…evil. Well, I mean, it wasn't vampires or demons or anything. She had a tumor. In her brain. They operated but an aneurysm formed. There was nothing they could do to stop it. I have a younger sister, Dawn. She's in Scotland now. Working with the Council. My father….well, neither Dawn or I have seen him in, gee, what is it now? I want to say ten or eleven years. Giles is more of a father to both of us than our real father is."

Something Castle could sympathize with. "Well, if it makes you feel better, I don't know who my father is. At all."

Buffy smiled. "Again, is it wrong if it does make me feel kind of better? What about Alexis' mom?"

"She's an actress. She lives out in Los Angeles now. When we got divorced, I ended up with custody of Alexis because she was traveling around so much for a show she was doing. The judge didn't think that would be much of a stable environment for Alexis. I'm so lucky to have gotten her and lucky enough that she wants to stay."

"Alexis is a very lucky girl to have a father that loves and cares for her so much."

"That's what fathers are supposed to do, isn't it?"

"Not all, apparently. You know, after Mom died, I spent four days trying to get a hold of him. Four. Days. He never called back. Never returned any of my messages. I…I'm not even sure if he knows that Mom is dead."

Castle could feel his heart breaking as Buffy told him of her estranged father. He could see the pain it caused her, written all over her face.

They sat in silence for another few moments. Suddenly, Buffy heard the familiar sounds of the casket breaking underground. She tried to not think of when she had to do it herself and got prepared to enjoy the show that was about to begin. She let a tiny smile slip when she saw a white hand emerge from the fresh dirt.

"What?" Castle asked, intrigued by her sudden smile.

"Oh….nothing. Nothing at all." As Buffy answered, the vamp was now half out of the grave. It was a woman, middle aged…late forties probably.

Vamp lady reached out and grabbed at Castle's ankle. She pulled him down and he yelled, in shock. Buffy watched as he managed to wriggle out of her grip, but he lost the stake she had given him in the process.

Vamp lady was fully out of the ground now and on the hunt for her first blood—Castle. She lunged at him again, knocking him back down. He was just barely managing to keep her fangs away from his neck.

"Buffy! Help!" he yelled.

Buffy just sat back, smiled and continued on watching. Possibly wishing she had some popcorn.

After another few minutes of struggling, Castle managed to push the vamp off of him. She stumbled back and fell over a low headstone. Castle grabbed the stake from where it had fallen, ran over and staked the vamp.

"Um, she didn't go poof. Why didn't she go poof?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and tossed him Mr. Pointy. "You might want to aim for the heart this time, Sherlock."

He thrust the stake down, this time at her heart and she burst into dust.

He leaned back against the same family stone, sweaty and breathless.

"Okay, that….that was AWESOME."

Buffy walked over and joined him, grabbing both stakes from the ground on her way.

"I realized this morning that you weren't going to be any good at training if you didn't realize what you were training for. Honestly, when I didn't come rushing in to help, what made you fight her off?"

"Honestly? I didn't want to die."

"And that, my dear protégé, is called instinct. Fight or flight. The adrenaline rush. That is what a Slayer feels almost constantly. To us, slaying is a need, not a want. Well, sometimes it's both. But mostly a need. We have to slay. 'Cause if we go too long without it, it builds up. Almost to the point of discomfort."

Castle raised his eyebrow suggestively. "Say, like when a person doesn't have sex for a very long time?"

"….Really? You had to go for that analogy? Of course you did."

"I just call 'em like I see 'em."

"You know, I'm feeling the need to slay."

"I'm sorry, did you say 'lay' or 'slay'?"

"You should probably go home now. Before I decide to SLAY you."

Castle whispered into Buffy's ear. "Ooh, so violent. Kind of a turn on."

With that, he left the cemetery. Buffy let out an exasperated sigh. "I really need to go kill something."

* * *

_**(Two nights later)  
**_

Castle knocked on Buffy's door. It was just a little after seven. He was early and wasn't expecting Buffy to be ready, but when she pulled open her door, his jaw dropped.

She had told him to dress nice tonight because they were going out for a different sort of field work. He dressed in a trendy suit and that was that. Buffy, on the other hand, had pulled out all the stops.

She was wearing a very short, very fitted black dress. It was one shouldered. The sleeve that was there was long and detailed with lace. Her short hair was pinned up with the DIY curls. The best part, he automatically decided, were her very high, candy apple red stilettos. They made her legs look about a mile long.

"Helloooo. Earth to Castle. My eyes are up here, buddy."

Castle swallowed the lump in his throat and looked up. "I'm afraid to ask where you're hiding Mr. Pointy."

Buffy laughed and shut the door behind her. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

* * *

They arrived at the trendy night club in about thirty minutes. Buffy did have to say that Castle's fame had some plus points. She wasn't sure she would've been able to pull off getting into the club without him. Actually, she knew she couldn't. She tried the night before and got turned away at the door. Pretty much laughed away, actually.

"Would you like an ice water?" Castle asked her, mockingly, over the loud music. She slapped him on the shoulder and told him to concentrate.

"Ow." was all he muttered.

"I'm here for a reason. The other night, after you left, I went patrolling and this vamp got away from me. He dropped a book of matches and they were from this club."

A look of understanding passed across Castle's face. "So, how do you plan on finding him?"

"You have your 'fight or flight' instincts and a Slayer has hers." Buffy said, ignoring his comment.

"….What?"

"I mean I can sense vampires. From like, a mile away. It's an instinct thing. Just shut up and pretend to dance with me while I search around."

"Pretend to dance? How does one pretend to dance?"

Buffy glared and Castle closed his mouth. "Would you care for a pretend dance?"

They mingled their way into the crowd. Buffy felt several little pulls but nothing useful. Till she saw him. The vamp in question was standing at the bar, mingling with a pretty bartender.

"Castle, I found him. Over there."

Castle turned his head to look and as he did, the vamp turned at the same time. He saw Buffy and booked it out through the side.

"Really? He's going to make me run in these shoes?"

Buffy flew off after him, with Castle in tow.

The side door he went out of lead into an alley, naturally. Castle arrived, huffing and puffing behind her.

"Wow, he…he's fast."

Buffy shushed him and moved down the alley, slowly. Suddenly, she was on the ground with said vamp jumping off from a fire escape, landing on top of her. They fought and struggled for a few minutes till Buffy got herself righted and kicked him off. He landed hard into a wall and slid down to the ground.

Buffy smashed a wood crate and grabbed a fragment of it. She grabbed the vamp by the throat and slammed him back into the wall.

He started laughing, naturally, as that's what evil beings tend to do when they are seconds from death.

"Slayer bitch, you have no idea. What's to come."

"Yes, please. Be cryptic. Because that's ALL I need right now in my life. Cryptic messages. Sarcasm, by the way. In case you couldn't tell."

"You won't be making jokes when she comes."

"Oh just shut up already." And with that, he was dust.

"What did he mean 'when she comes'?"

Buffy shrugged. "Who knows. I'll deal with whatever it is as it happens. Oh, son of a bitch. He ripped my dress."

Castle looked down and sure enough, there was a diagonal cut, exposing Buffy's skin. What wasn't already exposed by the dress, that is. There was some dried blood on her stomach.

"You're bleeding and you're worried about your dress?"

"An already healed cut versus a five hundred dollar dress, ruined. Yeah, I'm more worried about the dress."

* * *

About thirty minutes later, they were standing in front of Buffy's door.

"Not that I mind, but can I ask why all of a sudden you changed your twenty-first century womanly ways and made _me _come pick _you _up?"

"I heard you and your mother arguing about me the other night. I didn't want to cause anymore family rifts."

Castle slumped back a little. "How did you hear?"

"Before I knocked. Extra sensory hearing. Slayer thing."

"I'm sorry you had to hear that but at least you heard me defending your honor. You did hear that part, right?"

Buffy smiled. "Yes, I did. But that's my point. You shouldn't be defending my honor. Well, not to your mother. Like I told you before, it's going to take some time for them to believe, if they ever do. You can't force it."

Castled nodded his head in agreement. "Okay, you win."

Buffy turned to go in, but Castle stopped her. "One more question, if I may."

Buffy nodded and Castle continued on.

"What, per se, was the lesson tonight?"

Buffy smiled. "Okay, there was no lesson. I tried to get into that club last night and they wouldn't let me in. I figured they wouldn't turn away someone famous and his plus one."

"I feel so used. I kind of like it."


	3. Halloween

**Episode Three:** **"Halloween"**

"Is this shop reputable?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, has it been here long? Have you bought stuff here before?"

"Buffy, it's just a Halloween store. Are we going to stand in the doorway all day or are we going to go in?"

Buffy hesitated then walked into the small shop. "I'm just picky about Halloween stuff, that's all. Halloween's aren't very lucky for me."

Castle thought reflectively for a moment before nodding. "I guess that would hold true…with your profession."

"It's supposed to be a real uneventful night for—" Buffy lowered her voice as a man and woman walked past—"us, but it NEVER ever works that way."

"Ooh, explain, please." Castle held up a very scantily clad cheerleader's costume.

"Not here and hell no. Already done the cheerleading thing….that didn't really end well either."

Castle moved to the next rack and picked up a sailor's costume that had even less material to it.

Buffy glared. "Why do I even need a costume? I mean—"

"Because it's a costume party. People generally tend to wear costumes to costume parties. And yes- you have to come."

"Fine." Buffy huffed. She sorted through the rack of costumes closest to her while Castle stayed where he was. "But if we all get turned into our costumes, count this as my big 'I told you so'."

"You never answered about the sexy sailor." he said, wiggling the costume in his hand.

Buffy shook her head and Castle moved on.

"Oh, did I tell you? I think I've come up with a name for your character and a title for the book." he added, after a minute.

"Really? What?"

"Mallory Reynolds: Monster Hunter"

Buffy slowly turned towards him. "Mallory. You're naming my character Mallory."

Castle nodded. "…Yeah?"

"Mallory Reynolds. She sounds like she belongs in 'The Babysitter's Club'. Not my book."

"Well, my dear, you are forgetting that it's not technically your book. It's mine. And I'm naming her Mallory Reynolds."

Buffy shifted her eyes. "This name seems important to you. Why?"

"No reason. What about sexy nurse? It's a classic." he said, holding up a skimpy nurses' costume.

"Castle—"

"Sexy barmaid?"

"Castle—"

Buffy sighed. The discussion, what little of a discussion there was anyway, over her character's name was apparently over.

"Sexy zombie?"

"There is absolutely nothing sexy about zombies."

"Sexy beast?" Castle laughed. "Get it? It's a werewolf!"

"Something else that's extremely not sexy. Turning into a rabid dog-beast three nights a month."

"Ooh…sexy pirate?"

"Castle—"

"Sexy vamp-ooh, never mind. Sorry."

"Castle! You have exactly five seconds to find somewhere else to go before I wittle one of these fake, plastic knives into a real one."

* * *

Two nights later, Buffy arrived at Castle's apartment. She was greeted by Alexis, who was on her way out the door.

"Buffy! Come in! …Wow! Great costume. Is that a costume? Please don't tell me you let my dad pick it out."

In the end, she had chosen a Wonder Woman costume. You know, just in case. Well, it was sort of a costume anyway. It was basically blue hot pants, a fitted red and white stop that stopped just above her hips and red knee high boots. Instead of wearing the head…thing like it was supposed to be worn, she had weaved it into her hair like a headband. She carried a lasso tied to her hip.

"No, he didn't. This was all me. I thought the shorts were going to be longer than the skirt option. Now that I'm wearing it though, I'm not so sure. Are you off somewhere?"

Buffy had grown quite fond of Alexis in the last two months. She reminded her quite a bit of Dawn. Well, minus the rebellious kleptomaniac stage and the whole general "huge pain in the ass little sister" thing.

"My friend is having a sleepover Halloween party. My dad should be around here somewhere."

"Have fun and be safe." Buffy said as Alexis waved 'goodbye'.

She stood in her spot not sure where to even look for Castle. His apartment was big, for sure, however, there had to have been close to fifty people swirling about, making the place feel very crowded and very tiny.

"Buffy, is that you? What do you think of my cos—holy Jesus"

Castle stopped dead in his tracks as he was walking out of his room and gazed at Buffy.

"I swear to the Powers themselves that if you make one comment, I will use my Lasso of Truth as your noose."

Castle just staggered in the same spot for a few minutes, mouth slightly ajar and ogling.

"Close your mouth, darling, or else you'll have drool all over your outfit." Martha said in passing.

"What exactly are you supposed to be, anyway?" Buffy asked, looking over Castle's costume.

He was wearing a maroon button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, tight-ish khaki pants, brown boots and brown suspenders. He had a holster attached to his hip with a fake gun in it.

"I'm clearly a space cowboy. Duh." Castle said, shaking himself out of his little Buffy-induced daze.

"A….space cowboy?"

"Oh, it's from silly show he used to watch that got cancelled a few years ago." Martha said, pouring herself a drink.

"It wasn't….silly! It was brilliant. Wonderful. Amazing."

"And then it got cancelled. Time to get over it." Martha countered.

Buffy couldn't help the tiny giggle that escaped.

"Why don't you introduce me to some of these people?" Buffy said, grabbing Castle by the arm and yanking him away from his mother.

Soon, Buffy regretted the idea of Castle introducing her to his friends. Not that they weren't nice or anything, because they were, well, most of them were, but all the 'how did you meet' and 'oh, is this your girlfriend, Rick?' questions got old fast. There was one reporter friend that Buffy felt she might have to follow home to make sure there wouldn't be any 'Rick Castle's newest flame…' headlines.

Buffy and Castle were mingling with said reporter friend when Buffy felt it. The spidey sense tinglies. She tried to hide it as best she could, but Slayer mode had been activated. She excused herself from the present conversation and moved around the room, trying to get a direction on where said tinglies were coming from.

"Everything alright, Ms. Prince?" Castle whispered into her ear.

"Wait, what? Ms. Who?"

"You don't even know-Diana Prince. Wonder Woman's alter ego. Never mind. What's up?"

"My spidey sense is tingling."

"Wrong super hero, sweetheart."

"Oh, just…shut up. You know what I mean."

"Oh. OH. Wait, here? There's something in my place?"

Buffy spotted a couple that she hadn't yet been introduced to.

"Them. Who are they?" she asked, nodding at them.

"The man is Laurel Gent. He's a columnist for the New York Post. The woman, I assume, is his date."

"Introduce me to them."

Castle nodded and led Buffy over.

"Laurel! Great costume. How's it going? Enjoying the party so far?"

Buffy had to hold back from rolling her eyes at Castle's completely obvious conversation starter.

Castle and Laurel made small talk for a few moments before Castle introduced Buffy.

"Pleasure to meet you Miss Summers. This is my date for the evening, Anna Hale."

Buffy's tinglies had quadrupled since in just the two or three minutes they'd been standing there. Buffy let her senses stretch out a bit then quickly reeled them back in.

_Her._

It was definitely her.

Buffy realized that Anna was staring at her. More than staring. It was like she was boring a hole into Buffy.

She knew. Buffy could feel it.

"Castle, it's her." Buffy said, interrupting, his conversation with Laurel.

"Pardon?" Laurel questioned. "I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Are you sure?" Castle asked.

"You…you murder my kind." Anna hissed at Buffy.

"And what exactly do you call draining people? Science? You're the murderer. "

"Our kind was here first, Slayer. So quick to forget, aren't we now?"

"The difference is that mankind evolved. You didn't. And let's face it—we don't get a damn choice in being Chosen. You all choose what you become. Most of the time."

Instead of responding verbally, Anna chose to respond physically. She reached back and punched Buffy in the face, so hard that Buffy was knocked to the ground.

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and the corny Halloween sounds were abruptly shut off.

Just what Buffy needed. A mass amount of people to witness a Slayer and a vamp fighting.

Buffy leapt up and was in an automatic fighting stance. The shorts were a good idea now, she thought idly. Anna swung again, this time Buffy blocked her. She swung again and Buffy caught her fist, mid punch. She twisted Anna's arm till it cracked and flung Anna down to the ground.

She had her pinned easily but that's where she stopped. She obviously couldn't stake her in front of the entire party. Well, actually, she couldn't stake her at all seeing as how she didn't have one.

No room in the outfit.

She could always use one of Castle's kitchen knives or if he had a letter opener or hell, even a pencil, but then that led back to she couldn't stake her in front of all the party guests.

While she was busy contemplating, Anna managed to swing her legs around and knock Buffy off from her. She jumped up and bolted out front door.

Buffy was up in less than a second, chasing her down.

Anna was obviously a little bit faster on account of her vampness but Buffy was able to catch up to her in no time. It also helped that Castle's building wasn't that big.

Buffy caught up to her just as she was running into the small hallway that led to the fire exit staircase.

She peered over the edge of the railing. Castle's building was only five floors total and by the looks of it, Anna was just descending to floor three. Buffy backed up a bit, ran, grabbed the railing and flung herself over the side. She landed nearly directly on top of Anna and they fell into a tangled heap. They squirmed around a bit and Anna ended up on top of Buffy, however, she was facing upwards and her arms were trapped underneath Buffy's body.

Buffy was definitely hurting from the landing but she managed to wriggle around and grab the lasso off of her hip. She wrapped it around Anna's neck and pulled tight.

"Are you seriously trying to choke a vampire? I thought Slayers were supposed to be smart!"

At this point, Buffy could see Castle practically flying down the stairs, with Martha in tow.

"Okay, I'm really over this." Buffy twisted the rope till she heard another crack and Anna burst into dust.

"Oh my God! She just—dust. She turned to dust. I….I…think it's time I had another drink. Or fifty." Martha said, turning away.

Castle rushed down and helped Buffy up.

"It took you this long to realize that I was in the stairs?"

"Ninety-nine percent of that time was me trying to convince my mother not to follow. I have no idea what I'm supposed to tell my guests."

Buffy shrugged. "Eh, I'll handle that. I'm used to it. I believe the old faithful 'gangs on PCP' one should do it. Except for 'gangs' will be just one. And, oooh, I'll be part of the Narcotics department for some random police station somewhere."

* * *

It was well into the wee hours of the morning when Buffy and Castle found themselves, still costume clad, lounging on Castle's sofa, in the now party guest-less apartment, passing a carton of ice cream back and forth.

"Think I intimidated your reporter friends enough to not write a story about me? F" Buffy asked, in between a spoonful of Chocolate Mocha Delight.

"I think you intimidated them to the point of a career change." Castle laughed, digging his spoon into the ice cream.

"Next Halloween I'm just staying home. And eating pizza. And watching TV. And there will be nothing you can do to change my mind on that."

Castle licked his spoon clean. "Well, two good things did come out of the evening."

"And what would those be?"

"My mother most certainly believes you now and I've got an _excellent _chapter for the book!"  
_

**A/N: **I apologize if there are any spelling and/or grammar errors I've missed in this chapter. It's currently 2:45AM and I'm not entirely functional but I really wanted to get this one updated before I get busy with the rest of the week. :) I've already got the next one written and I'll upload it in a few days!


	4. Debts to be Paid

**Episode Three:**** "Debts to be Paid"**

It was a chilly, late November morning. A few days before Thanksgiving, actually. Buffy felt the chill run throughout her bones as she entered Castle's apartment building. She hesitated in front of his door, not sure what she would say. And with how horrible she looked at the moment, well, as horrible as she imagined she looked, she would have to say something.

She knocked lightly on the door, hoping it wasn't too early. She waited a few minutes before the door opened, revealing a sleepy looking Castle. His hair was bed-heady and he was in his pajamas.

"Buffy? What's with the early wake up?" he asked, wiping his eyes.

He walked away from the door, that being her invitation to join him inside. She followed him in, but didn't join him when he sat on the sofa. She stuttered through a few sentence openings, not quite sure what to say. Luckily, his brain must've woken up because before she could speak, well, stutter,  
again, he jumped up off the sofa and over to her.

"Oh my God what happened to you?"

Okay, so it was bad. Buffy hadn't really had a chance to catch a mirror in all the craziness…

"My apartment kind of burned down." she said, softly, clutching onto the only three things she managed to save.

The scythe, which she had already had in her hands, a picture of her, Dawn and Mom the Christmas before she, Mom that is, died, and a high school picture of her, Xander, Cordy, Willow and Oz.

"Burned down? How?"

"Okay, so when I say 'burned down', I might mean 'blown up'."

"Someone blew up your apartment? Like with a bomb?"

"Well, there was definitely an explosion. And lots of fire. So I'm going with yes."

"Have you been to the hospital? Are you hurt?"

"Castle, I'm fine."

"Buffy, your place was bombed. You're going to the hospital."

"They probably don't want to see me right now."

"Buffy—"

"I kind of punched out a _really _obnoxious EMT and ran off. Trust me. They don't want to see me right now. However the NYPD might…"

Martha came down the stairs, took one look at raggedy Buffy and rushed right over.

"Oh my God, what happened? And why does it smell like a fireplace in here?"

"My place burnt down—"

"—was blown up" Castle interjected.

"—Yes, fine, was blown up. And I'm pretty sure the fireplace smell is me." she added, sniffing her hair.

"Well, you'll be staying with us then until you can get a new place." Martha said.

"Oh, no, I couldn't. I'm just going to get a hotel room 'til the Council can get me a new place. I just wanted to let you know before you heard something about it on the news. I didn't want you to worry…"

"Nonsense. A woman can't live out of a hotel room! We have an extra bedroom down here, just sitting there. Collecting dust. Don't you agree, Richard?"

Castle nodded his head. "It is a definite dust collector."

Buffy sighed. "Oh, well, okay. I mean, if you insist. Just…it might take a while for the Council to put everything into action. Pretty busy these days."

"Well, I would assume that they probably want to send someone out to investigate the reasoning behind it." Castle said.

"More along the lines of Giles might have a hit put out on me when he finds out how many books were lost."

"I've got to get going, I'm late for a breakfast date, but darling, you go and get some rest and then make sure my son takes you out and gets you some new clothes."

Martha hugged Castle and waved as she walked out the door.

"Where's Alexis?"

"Monday morning? Hmm…that's usually her drug cartel time slot, but I think she managed to shove that aside for a gang member meeting."

"You could've just said 'in school'."

Castle smiled. "Allow me to show you to your room, mademoiselle."

Buffy followed Castle past the open kitchen and around the corner. There were two doors directly across from each other.

"Of course it's next to your room."

"Hey, I'm a gentleman. I'll only come barging in if you need help. With anything, might I add."

Buffy pursed her lips. "Yeah, I'm not even going to touch that sentence. Where can I shower?"

Castle's eyes lit up. "Well, I have a master bath in my bedroom which is right over there…"

"I'm contemplating slaying you right now."

"Upstairs. Three doors to the left. I think you should probably fit into some of Alexis' clothes. I'll leave them in your bedroom."

"….That means that I'll have to walk all that way in a towel."

"I know." Castle grinned.

Buffy juggled the two picture frames around in her hands and held up the scythe.

"Fiiiine. I'll slide them under the door."

* * *

Two hours and one incredibly amazing shower later, Buffy was walking Fifth Avenue with Castle.

"You don't need to buy me clothes, you know."

"I'm not sure you can share clothes with Alexis forever."

"I just meant that I still have the credit card that the Council gave me."

"Well, we'll just see who swipes their card faster." Castle smiled.

They walked and browsed in silence.

"So, what happened?" Castle asked.

"Last week, I ran into a few….acquaintances…of Spike's, from Sunnydale. Poker buddies. That sort of thing. They used to follow this loan shark guy, but I managed to scare him off in Sunnydale, with Spike promising to repay him what he owed plus some. Well, apparently, a couple of these vamps are under new management. A vamp named…Tea? No, sorry, Thea. Anyway, the vamp that recognized me from Sunnydale didn't know that Spike is dead. He assumed that we were….together, and that he was here with me. The next night, as I was walking into my building, this Thea chick blindsided me. Yelling that Spike needs to pay what he owed plus interest. I told her that he was dead and has been dead for almost six years now…it happened in the collapse of Sunnydale. I told her that I saw the flames start myself. She insisted that since he was dead, it was now up to me to pay what he owed, since we were "together" at the time of his death. But we weren't. We were never 'together'. Not like that."

"Then like how?" Castle wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive way. It made Buffy think of Xander.

"I made some bad decisions at an extremely difficult time in my life. Cut me some slack, huh? Besides, I've met both of your ex-wives and you have NO room to talk."

"…..Touché. Continue on."

"So I laughed at her and told her that Spike and I were never together. I called her insane. She flipped a bit. I moved into attack her but she flippin' disappeared in a smoke cloud thing—"

"That's so totally cheating."

"—Agreed. Dracula's smoke puffs were enough to deal with. I don't need every vamp I encounter doing it too. So, last night, as I was walking into my building, she yet again stops me and starts her spiel over. I, again, laughed but I made my annoyance at this whole new stalking scene pretty clear. She made a cryptic remark about how I had till dawn to come up with what he owed or else I'd be seeing the 'flames of death' once more. There was a tiny fight and I staked two of her lackeys. She pulled her disappearing trick again. I went back out patrolling, well, looking for her. By the time I got home, it was pretty close to sun up. I was in the hallway when it exploded. I already had the scythe from patrolling. I managed to grab the two pictures and then, after punching out the EMT, that's when I showed up at your door."

"How much did he owe them? I'll pay it right now, if it'll make you safe."

"Yeah…they aren't looking for money."

"What then? Blood? Organs? A virgin sacrifice? The first born son of a prodigal family?"

"….Or kittens."

"Kittens."

"Yes."

"As in, 'meow meow' baby cats?"

"Those are the ones."

"Who plays poker for kittens and where can I join up?"

Buffy glared.

"Okay okay, I was kidding."

"Vampires and assorted demons. You'd be surprised at how lucrative a business it can be. However, you're not joining up."

"I'm not going to give them kittens. Alexis would murder me."

"Personally, I was thinking of just killing _them_."

"Oooh can I come?"

Buffy laughed. "It would be pretty stellar in the book."

"Oh my God you've already got something planned, don't you?"

Buffy smiled, mischievously. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"You _so _do."

They walked in silence for another few minutes till a bunch of police cars and fire trucks went screaming past them.

Buffy turned to Castle and nodded towards the parade of emergency vehicles. "We should probably follow that."

He grinned widely and clapped his hands together, letting out a small school boy-ish squeal. "I _knew _it!"

* * *

They arrived at a small, abandoned building that had flames bursting out of it. They stood far away from the group of onlookers that was getting larger and larger behind the safety tape.

Two firemen walked past them, talking amongst themselves. "Second explosion today. Think they could be related?"

After they passed by, Castle turned to Buffy. "You blew them up?"

"Yes, please. Let's announce that as loud as possible to the nice policemen."

"Right, sorry. But _you blew them up_?"

"I believe the old saying starts 'an eye for an eye'?"

"What…how did you even make this happen?"

"You have your connections and I have mine. Some of mine just happen to be people that are very high up in the military that can get things for me. Fast."

"Oh, you are a girl after my own heart. Seriously. It's not even here yet, but, BEST THANKSGIVING EVER."


	5. Christmas in Scotland

**A/N:** My one and only resolution this year is to be get better about updating and writing in general. My sincerest apologies for the absurdly long wait. Actually, at this point, I think it's safe to call it a hiatus, haha. Anyway, thank you to all that have hung on!

This ep is very Buffy/Scooby centric. No Castle at all, actually, except for some tiny conversational snippets.

Welcome to a very (late) Buffy Christmas—in Scotland! :)

* * *

The itinerary for Buffy's Christmas vacation in Scotland was supposed to be simple. She was going to fly in about ten days before the actual holiday, spend several glorious days shopping and spend Christmas Eve feasting and swapping stories with her family. Christmas morning was, of course, dedicated for the time old tradition of presents while the rest of the day was saved for left over feasting and laziness.

Boxing Day was reserved for figuring out how to get said presents home and packing before flying out extremely early the next day so she could spend New Years Eve with Castle back in good ol' NYC.

So, naturally, nothing would go according to plan. When does it ever?

Buffy was convinced it all started to go wrong when her flight, that was supposed to leave on the 15th, didn't actually depart until the 20th. An epic snow storm had shut down most of the North East for days on end.

So she had to cut a few days of shopping. Okay, she'd deal. She would do all her shopping tomorrow in Glasgow's City Centre and be done with it. At least she'd get a full five days with her family.

Her plans were instantly put on the back burner as soon as she stepped through the gate and spotted the dim look on Giles' face.

"Okay. What is it? Who died?"

"Buffy let's get back to Willow and Kennedy's flat. This is hardly the place…"

"No go, Giles. Not leaving this spot 'til you tell me what's up."

Giles took his glasses off, cleaned them and put them back on. In this mood setting, that tiny little action set Buffy on edge.

"Oh god. Who died?" The question was serious now.

"The entire human race, potentially. If we don't stop them."

And that's how Buffy found herself in her current predicament.

She was in a small pub, on Christmas Eve, the night she had reserved for feasts and storytelling, fighting a herd of vamps and a couple of assorted demons.

"All I wanted was some info. Honestly." she said, smashing a vamp's head into the wall. She flipped backwards, wrapped her legs around a Kailiff demon and twisted, snapping his neck.

She used the momentum she had going to kick his now lifeless body into a small set of vamps that were approaching. They fell like bowling pins. She staked the vamp whose head she'd just smashed and walked over to the six currently lying underneath the dead demon, picking the scythe up off the floor on her way.

"Anybody ready to talk yet?"

She waited a minute but none of them spoke.

"Okay then, well, I guess you're all just going to be dust and I'll have to find my info another way."

Buffy raised the scythe up and just as she was about to swing down on the first vamp, one of the ones at the end spoke up.

"I'll tell you. Whatever you need to know. I'll talk."

"Idiot! You're supposed to-"

The vamp that was talking didn't have a chance to finish as Buffy cleaved his head off in a short blow. She did the same to the remaining four till she and Mr. Talky Vamp were the only ones left.

"Talk. Or you're dust."

"These people you're after...they're not just some regular old Wiccans out for a good time. They're powerful. Extremely powerful."

"Yeah, got that. What are they trying to do? And where are they going to do it? Time's kind of a factor on this one."

"They're called 'Brother' and 'Sister'. They're a part of the 'Corff o Uffern'. An extremely old cult that was based in Northern Wales. The legends all say that the cult started with two members, Mother and Father and then extended out to Brother and Sister. The townspeople had found out about them and chased them up here, in Glasgow. The legend continues to say that after sometime here, the word traveled up from Wales. The locals found them and burned Mother and Father alive, then buried them in an unmarked grave in Necropolis. They never found Brother and Sister, just assumed that they had escaped and never bothered to look for them."

"Well, it looks like Brother and Sister are back to play. What's their aim?"

"They've got dozens of Fyarl demons under their control as foot soldiers. If Mother and Father are resurrected, they're bringing an eternity of Hell with them. The legends say that they'll use some humans for slaves, some will be kept as food and the rest will be killed off as pestilence. I know I'm only a lowly vampire but I like to think that I've found my spot in my un-life. I'm not ready to die. Not at the hands of some crazy Wiccans."

Buffy took great notice that the vamp seemed scared. No. Not seemed. Was. He was definitely scared.

"So, you're thinking this is all happening at Necropolis?"

"I'm telling you that's where it's happening, Slayer."

"I don't usually do this but it's Christmas and you just saved me *so* much precious time. Go. Duck out of Glasgow for a bit, at least for tonight. It's your lucky night. Unless...unless you run straight to these freaks and tell them we're coming. I'm not the Slayer to be messed with. Got it?"

He nodded viciously. She stood up off of him and nodded for him to get out. He scrambled out the door as fast as could be. Buffy pulled out her cell and dialed.

"Giles, I'm on my way. I got everything we needed to know."

* * *

"Was he telling the truth, Giles?" Buffy asked, leaning against the wall in Willow and Kennedy's flat.

Giles sighed. "From everything I've read...yes. It does seem that he was being truthful."

"A vamp that's truthful. That's new." Xander chimed in.

Willow glared at him.

"What? I get it. There's all around badness. Show my girls where to point their axes, British Man."

"No, I don't think our usual method of weaponry is going to be of any use to them." Willow said.

"Okay, so no sword-in-the-stones. Got any other ideas?" Buffy asked.

"Um, yes, actually. I just have to make a few calls, pull some strings in the Coven. Though, you said that the vampire said that they were using Fyarl's as foot soldiers?"

Buffy nodded.

"I wouldn't put your sword down just yet then. You do recall how to kill them?" Giles asked.

"Little bit of silver and they buckle."

"Right. Then I want you with Xander, Kennedy and the girls. Dig out all the silver weapons you can find. Willow and Dawn, I want you with me. I'll need your help rounding up the Coven."

* * *

Buffy wasn't sure of the exact time when they arrived at Necropolis, but she was willing to bet that it was somewhere close to midnight. These evil Wiccan types always seemed to go for midnight.

They needed to not roam too far to find them. Buffy and her crew of Slayers (and Xander), all fully armed with pure silver swords and daggers, were greeted by the small army of Fyarls coming straight at them.

"They'll do this gross mucus thing and they're pretty strong, so watch out. Other than that... go for the kill, ladies." Buffy said, raising her sword.

She smiled. "Boy have I missed this."

The first Fyarl that dared to come rushing came straight at Buffy. She swung her sword and it slashed him through the shoulder. He dropped to the ground, dead, instantly.

The rest of the Fyarls started growling and making other weird demon-y noises. They rushed and it was show time.

While the Slayers (and Xander) were busy fending off the Fyarl invasion, Giles, Dawn, Willow and a few members of the Coven stood back, waiting.

"Can you see them? Are they even here? Are we sure this isn't just a trap?" Dawn asked, rapid fire.

Willow opened her mouth to answer but shut it quickly. An immense power filled her straight from her toes, all the way up to her head. It felt as if lightening was living within her veins. Her eyes shot black.

She cocked her head at Giles and Dawn and pointed to a large snow covered hill.

"They're over there."

"Willow...your eyes..." Dawn started.

"She'll be alright, love. Promise." said one of the younger Coven members. "Willow is easily one of the most powerful ones here. She's just picked up on their magical energy. We best get as close as we can and start chanting. We haven't got much time."

Giles and Dawn nodded and followed after them.

Buffy had felt like she'd been fighting forever. The vamp wasn't lying when he had said there were dozens of Fyarls. There were literally dozens upon dozens of them. It seemed like their whole race had been signed up. That and a few of the local resident vamps had interjected into the mix. Never ones to miss a good fight.

Suddenly, a black-as-black-could-be cloud filled the area. Buffy's heart sank. Was this it? Had they failed? She hadn't even noticed anything but the beasts she was fighting...

A high pitched scream rang out from underneath the black cloud. Two cloaked figures had appeared. Buffy assumed them to be 'Brother' and 'Sister'. They pulled their hoods down and clasped hands. They both had extremely pale skin and dead, black eyes, much like Willow's had been during her bad phase. 'Brother' had shoulder length dark brown hair while 'Sister' had the same color hair, hers was longer. Buffy wasn't exactly sure how long as it was tucked into her cloak.

"It's time! IT'S TIME!" one of them screeched.

She noticed Willow pulling Giles and Dawn into the Coven's tightly woven circle.

The cloaked people started chanting very loudly in what Buffy thought might be Welsh. Willow, Giles, Dawn and the Coven started chanting, even louder, almost drowning the bad people out, in Latin.

Buffy turned back to the fight, prepared to jump back in. Except there was no fight anymore. What was left of the demons and vamps...well, they were backing off. Running away, actually.

"Buffy, are they...?" Xander started.

"Fleeing in terror? I think so."

"Okay, now I'm scared." Xander retorted. "If something is scary enough that it makes creatures of the night run for their lives..."

"...It can't be good." Buffy finished.

Then, without any warning whatsoever, a bright green flash appeared in the sky. It hovered momentarily before striking down, like lightening, next to 'Brother' and 'Sister', leaving an extremely smoky residue.

A tall, very gorgeous woman walked out of the smoke. She had long, white blonde hair, bright blue eyes and fair skin. She was wearing a long, white toga-type dress and holding a long, silver scepter that had a blue-ish, glowing bulb at the end.

She was good. Not just good. Pure. Buffy could feel her presence flowing. It was like a bright, white essence had flooded her senses.

Buffy assumed she was one of the full fledged, higher up Goddesses.

More importantly, Brother and Sister looked absolutely terrified at the sight of her. No. Not at her. They weren't even looking at her. They were staring very fearfully at her scepter.

"ENOUGH! HEATHENS!"

Her voice was filled with rage yet it still managed to be somewhat lyrical.

"You wish to look upon Mother and Father? Then you shall!"

She slammed the bottom of the scepter down on the ground and there was a loud crack. The blue part at the top changed to a dark, cloudy gray and then turned into a bright, fiery orange. She pointed it straight at Brother and Sister.

"I bind thee to thy very pits of Hell where you shall spend all of eternity paying for your atrocities. Go. NOW."

There was another loud crack followed by what Buffy swore sounded like a crackling fire. Brother and Sister screeched and screamed and then they were gone with a loud pop. Gone just as quick as they had come.

The smoke cleared and Goddess lady's scepter turned back to the blue-ish hue it had been. She turned her attention towards Buffy and smiled a small, caring smile.

"Your work here is done, Champions. Step back and I shall vanquish the rest of the soulless creatures to Hell, where they belong."

Buffy turned to move, almost running straight into Willow. In all the commotion, she hadn't noticed them joining her.

Goddess lady raised her scepter once more and an extremely bright blue-ish light expanded across the whole of the cemetery.

Goddess lady smiled and brought her scepter back to her side.

"Any soulless thing that laid upon this hallowed ground is now gone. My work here is finished."

She smiled once more and then vanished.

"Girls-scout the grounds...just to be on the safe side." Xander yelled out, all authoritative. The small group of Slayers disbanded among the cemetery, leaving it just Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles and Dawn.

"Okay. I'm just going to come right out and say it. Not only the easiest apocalypse ever, but officially the weirdest." Buffy said, after a few minutes.

"That gets my vote." Dawn agreed.

"Who was the vanquish-y lady?" Xander asked.

" 'Vanquish-y Lady' was the High Enchantress Aislin. She's the one that originally banished 'Mother' and 'Father' to Hell, while they were being burned alive by the townspeople." Giles explained.

Buffy and Xander just nodded.

"Well, there's another apocalypse averted." Xander said.

"Total waste of a Christmas, though." Dawn replied.

"Well, at least we're all together. That's got to count for something, right?"

"You know what they say, Buff. The family that slays-and-averts-apocalypses together, stays together." Xander smiled.

Giles shook his head while Buffy, Willow and Dawn laughed.

* * *

_**27th December-Glasgow International Airport**_

Buffy stood just outside the gate entrance to her plane home, carrying her one small carry-on bag, the rest of her stuff having been shipped back to NYC the day before.

"You can't tell me that you haven't missed this. Scooby gang all together. Solving mysteries. Stopping apocalypses. I just think that you should stay. We all miss you." Xander said.

Buffy laughed. "While yes, I have missed this a bit, New York has actually been surprisingly... calming for me. Only one sort-of major bad guy, er, girl, and I took care of that. Nearly all by myself."

Giles took his glasses off and started cleaning them on his shirt.

"Yes. Riley did inform me of that. In the future, Buffy, please do try to refrain from blowing buildings up?"

"It's kind of my thing, you know, but yes, I'll try my hardest. I just meant that I haven't had to deal with a lot there. Normal vamp patrol. Not even one apocalypse. Come to think of it, I'm actually starting to wonder if you guys planned this whole thing, just to keep my on my apocalypse toes."

Willow smiled, slightly.

"But that's not why you're not staying here with us, is it? The calm-semi-retirement thing."

Xander nodded in agreement. "Could be because of that whole thing where you're becoming a kick ass super heroine in a book. I'd go back for that."

Dawn shook her head at Xander. "Xander, you're so totally clueless. It's not because of the book. It's because of the completely charming, super hunktastic author of said book. You know, the one that is following her every move?"

Giles took this opportunity to clean his already clean glasses.

Buffy felt her face getting red. "Okay, getting on the airplane now. Call when I land. Love you." She hugged everyone and walked away towards her gate.

"Say what you want, big sister, but you're totally smitten! I can seeeee ittt!" Dawn called out after her.

Buffy rolled her eyes and kept on walking.

* * *

Buffy settled herself into the cozy first class seat, trying not to think about what Dawn and Willow had said.

She found it a hard thing to do though as it had actually been Castle that had paid for this trip for her, first class and all, as a Christmas present.

That aside though, when she did settle into thinking about it, she couldn't really deny what they had said.

Of course she could keep telling herself that the reason she refused to stay in Scotland and chose to go back to NYC had everything to do with the easy so called 'retirement life'. Or, she could be completely honest with herself.

Her reason for going back had every single thing to do with Castle.

She sat back and tried to picture what her life would be like had he never wandered into that precise alleyway that night. She shook her head, trying to erase the thought from her mind. It almost physically hurt to even think about it. Okay, so it was obvious that there were some feelings there.

She turned her thoughts the other way. When did said feelings come into play? When was it that she'd started to fall? Before she had moved in? Or was it after?

After some considerable time spent thinking on that, she'd decided that it had been after. She'd never told Castle, nor would she ever tell Castle, but the real reason she'd gone Berserk-O Girl on Thea last month was because she'd threatened Castle's life. She'd had some spies out who'd seen them together, on patrol somewhere, and decided that it would be a swell idea to use him as bait in her little game. Buffy simply couldn't let her get away with it.

All that trouble over 100 kittens. Seriously.

Buffy shook her head, once more trying to erase the memory. It had to have been somewhere around then, she decided. She didn't blow up buildings for just anybody.

She leaned the enormous seat back and cuddled in for some much needed sleep. She drifted off happily, knowing that the next time she opened her eyes, she would be seeing Castle.


End file.
